Waking up as soon as put in crib

jessandty

We are now on day 2 of my DS waking up as soon as we lay him in his crib at night.  He is 7 months old and has been typically easy to put to bed.  Typical night - He will nurse/take a bottle and fall asleep in our arms which I know is a bad habit, but when we transfer him to his crib he will stay asleep or will wake up but he will fall right back to sleep. Now like I said, all of a sudden he will just scream as soon as he hits the matress. There are a couple of things that could be going on and I wonder if anyone has had this happen and what they did to help or just would like someone's input: 1) He is teething, 2) He just had his immunizations 3 days ago, 3) Maybe has some separation anxiety going on.

I want to start ferber but we also still swaddle and want to break him of that before we start ferber.  Right now I don't think putting him to bed unswaddled will work at all if he is waking as soon as he hits the matress.

Anyone else out there going through this?  Any suggestions what could be going on?  Any ideas to help a tired/frustrated mother?  TIA.

 

susanmosley

My 6 1/2 month DD is very similar.  I nurse and rock to sleep, then put her in her crib where she stays asleep.  But she is not swaddled.  This week, same deal - fell asleep with me, as normal, but when put into her crib, she woke up.  Since we do this routine every night and I know there is not anything "wrong" - i let her cry Monday and Tuesday - not crazy crying, just fussing.  Both nights it lasted around 10 minutes, which is long for her.  Wednesday and tonight, she woke the second I put her down, but didn't cry and was able to put herself to sleep.  I am convinced it was a result of not "bailing her out" on M/T.  HOWEVER, the swaddling thing adds a different component, as it is hard for your DS to self soothe when swaddling.  I do know that when my DD was finished being swaddled - around 4 months, she began having difficulty with our same ol' night time routine.  So maybe your son is ready to be without the swaddle?  Does he nap swaddled?  How mobile is he?  rolling?  pushing up to all fours?  I would try unswaddling him for a few nights - following the same routine, and see if that isn't what he is ready for.  Just my thoughts.  good luck

 

engaged678

DS did this until we started putting him in his crib awake. I'd stay in the room and comfort him until he fell asleep. He was fine after we started doing this... now he just needs to learn to fall asleep on his own instead of play most nights.

jessandty

Thanks for your responses.

To answer susanmosely - My DS does not nap swaddled but half the time I have to rock him in his car seat, the other half he falls asleep in my arms and I transfer him to his crib (unswaddled).  He rolls from front to back but not back to front (yet).  He pushes up on his arms when on tummy but does not get on all 4's.  I think we are going to try unswaddling him tonorrow night when we are both off work.  I know I have to stop swaddling so he can self-soothe so I have to break this habit before I can start ferber.  Also I fear swaddling is not a good thing if he can roll back to front, then he won't be able to flip himself back over if swaddled.  I have a feeling this is going to be a long process (getting him to sleep unswaddled and starting ferber). 

Thanks for the input!

susanmosley

Just one more thing - I DREADED unswaddling my DD.  Like, I was terrified that it was going to be hell.  It was so surprisingly easy - I mean, she didn't STTN on the first attempt or anything, but she slept surprisingly well and was pretty good at getting herself to sleep pretty quickly.  He is as mobile and my DD, sounds like he is probably in a good place for unswaddling.  I am sending easy sleeping vibes your way - it really may not be as hard as you are expecting.  Like I said, I was horrified of the idea and it went really smoothly.  GL!

jessandty

Thanks for your help and seay sleeping vibes.  I hope you are right and everything goes well tomorrow night.  He may just be ready to be unswaddled.  I will try tomorrow.  Thanks for answering.

engaged678

try putting something of yours in the crib too. I wear a sweater robe every morning and DS slept on it in his crib for about a month before I took it out.